Northern’s problems
NORTHERN’S underlying problems will remain regardless of whether it is Arriva or an Operator of Last Resort (OLR) running the franchise, Northern Managing Director David Brown told RAIL on October 28.
In an exclusive interview, he said: “Our 6,000-plus people will transfer to that business, but the underlying issues will remain - for example, the Castlefield Corridor, the infrastructure requirements, and the issue of capacity around Leeds and Neville Hill.”
Brown’s comments follow those of Secretary of State for Transport Grant Shapps at a Transport Select Committee hearing on October
16, when he raised the possibility of the franchise being nationalised ( RAIL 890).
Regional stakeholders including Transport for the North (which co-manages both the Northern and
TransPennine Express franchises) and local mayors have called for the introduction of an OLR.
“We need a new plan to underpin the timetable that has been committed to, working with Network Rail and the Department for Transport based on the recently released assumptions for infrastructure enhancements,” said Brown.
Among the schemes detailed in the DfT’s Rail Enhancements Pipeline released on October 16 are reopening Skipton-Colne, Leeds station capacity, Castlefield Corridor improvements, and Wigan-Bolton electrification (originally planned as part of NR’s North Western wires scheme). These are at the ‘initiate’ phase, waiting for permission to move to the development phase.
Schemes being designed include the Trans-Pennine Route Upgrade and the Hope Valley capacity upgrade.
“The Public Performance Measure is better than last year, but is still struggling. Everything is tighter now - diagrams, train crew rostering
- and if you get a train caught in network congestion then that introduces further delays,” said Brown.
“There are still infrastructure schemes to unlock and we are always talking to Network Rail. When you let a franchise, you need an infrastructure plan that is fully delivered. There is currently a gap, and that is not a criticism of Network Rail. Some of the key elements of the originally assumed infrastructure are not there.”
Brown explained: “The Secretary of State has told Arriva to produce its plan for a Direct Award and has told the Operator of the Last Resort to do the same.
“Arriva bid with the assumption that certain infrastructure schemes would be completed, but some are still paused. That has affected how we deliver our operational plan and the financial side of the business. The original 2016 franchise plan is not achievable, and the SoS has recognised that.”
Brown added: “We are currently focused on delivering on our business-wide plan. There is a huge train crew training programme under way. There are 29 new trains in traffic, with further introductions planned for November, December, February, April and May.”
Network Rail says a cross-industry collaboration is needed for the Castlefield Corridor, with Northern working with other operators to identify a solution.
Brown said: “A North of England Performance Board has just been created with TransPennine Express and NR. The issues affecting my trains also affect them. We need short-term solutions and there are options around what we can do with timetables.”